During his working visit to the Khmelnytskyi region, the Head of State met with border guards and presented them with awards. Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated them upon the Day of the State Border Guard Service, marked in Ukraine this week, and thanked them for protecting our borders and for their strength shown in the battles against the Russian occupiers.

"I thank each unit, each soldier and commander of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine for being a solid support for our country. This is exactly how it should remain in the future: we all expect you to demonstrate at least the same level of professionalism and ability to enhance the Ukrainian experience of resilience and gaining victories in battles against the occupier," the President emphasized.

The participants honored the memory of the fallen defenders of Ukraine with a minute of silence. The Head of State presented two servicemen with the Orders of the Golden Star and the titles of Hero of Ukraine: Lieutenant Colonel Dmytro Oleksiuk. He has participated in the war since 2014. Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, he independently organized and conducted combat training for the personnel. He evacuated 34 killed and 105 heavily wounded brothers-in-arms from the battlefield, despite the intense fire of the Russian occupiers, landmines and persistent operation of attack drones. Master Sergeant Oleh Pryshnevskyi. He has been serving in the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine for almost 30 years. In January 2024, at the Avdiivka direction, he ordered his subordinates to take their wounded brothers-in-arms to the shelter, and he personally covered their retreat with machine gun fire and continued to eliminate the Russian occupiers. Additionally, two border guards received the Presidential Cross of Military Merit decorations: Colonel Andriy Bizhyk. His personnel bravely defended the area of Vodyane, Vuhledar, Novomykhailivka, Avdiivka and Krasnohorivka. The units under his command liquidated 43 armored vehicles, about 300 occupiers and a Russian Su-25. Staff Sergeant Dmytro Shvets. He repelled enemy attacks in the Donetsk region. During one of his combat missions, he was wounded, but despite this, he helped his wounded brothers-in-arms and evacuated them to a shelter. The President also awarded six more servicemen with the Orders of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, III class, and another nine with the Orders "For Courage", III class.